SWABI, Pakistan - The smallpox epidemic is rapidly spreading in these parts of the province, but the district health department has failed to take any step to contain this deadly disease, Dawn learnt here on Saturday.

It has been reported from different parts of the Swabi district that a large number of children have suffered from smallpox, but the authorities concerned have failed to take any action to prevent this disease or immunize the people against it.

Smallpox is a fatal disease which causes high fever, leaves permanent marks on the skin and spreads very fast. Timely treatment and precautionary measures are vital for controlling this malady.

A health official said that the dilemma of the people was that they were not aware of the danger aspects of this ailment as the children suffering from it have neither been kept in isolation nor properly treated. And this resulted in the spread of the virus.

In most of the cases, the children of a family or those living close to each other, contract it at one and the same time.

The residents of Naro Banda, a rural area in the district, told this correspondent that a majority of the children in the village had suffered from smallpox a few years back. "My two brothers, Shams and Akhtar, have been afflicted by smallpox and I have appealed to the officials concerned, but they did not bother either to visit the area or take steps for controlling it," said Mukhtaj Ahmad of Naro Banda.

The mother of a sick child said she had informed the lady health workers about the spread of the disease four days ago, but no action was taken.

It was also noticed that most of the parents of the sick children were uneducated. They had either approached the quack living nearby, or the self-made homeopath doctors to treat the children, but no visible improvement could be seen in the health of the children.

If the district health department delayed taking steps for containing the disease, the epidemic may spread to other areas in the vicinity, or the whole of the district, for that matter.

The suffering people have appealed to the NWFP governor, district government bosses and health officials to send in special teams to extend necessary health cover to the children

If it was smallpox it had to come from one of two sources: CDC (US) or Biopreparat (Russia on an island in the Aral Sea belonging to either Kazakhstan or Uzbekistan). Considering the standing or organized crime in Russia, I don't think this an unlikely development.

Maybe one reason for a smallpox outbreak is that there are several universities attracting foreign students in Swabi? Maybe the epidemic is really snallpox .... The Ghulam Ishaq Khan Institute of Engineering Sciences and Technology is said to be one of the best engineering schools in Pakistan.

If it was smallpox it had to come from one of two sources: CDC (US) or Biopreparat (Russia on an island in the Aral Sea belonging to either Kazakhstan or Uzbekistan). Considering the standing or organized crime in Russia, I don't think this an unlikely development.

Dawn is naturally prejudiced in the usual ways, but it's also usually a reasonably reliable Islamic newssheet, as far as these things go. It could be a mistranslation. It could be a mistake. It could be a Pakistani urban legend. But I trust someone is checking it out, because if true it would indeed be a huge story.

It is suspected that Russia, China, and possibly Iraq have access to smallpox. And if they do, it could certainly have spread. I can't imagine that the Chinese would be stupid enough to give their Pakistani friends smallpox bacillae. But they gave them nuclear warheads and missiles to deliver them, so anything is possible. Also there are a lot of former Russian germ warfare scientists who are at loose ends and might be bought with Arab money. The U.S. has tried to keep them employed, but there are always loose ends.

Smallpox, chickenpox........whatever. The real tragedy here is that these people are not represented by any government at all. Mushareff and his ilk are spending everything on nuclear arms, while the people still live in the twelfth century. With all the money squandered by this "government," there should BE no epidemics. It just proves that they're simply not evolved enough to have nuclear capabilities.

Thought you had a dreaded project to work on.......playin' hooky??? <{;o)

I would agree that the world media and the health organizations all around the world should be indicted for stupidity if it really is, but I would not rule it out, after what we have learned about our supposed almighty powers that are responsible for our safety.

Smallpox used to be a childhood disease because everyone born earlier was either immune from surviving it or had died from it. It probably last occurred there 30 years ago. Everyone born since would be susceptible, i.e. not just children would be affected by smallpox now. It probably is the historically most common misdiagnosis, chickenpox.

The residents of Naro Banda, a rural area in the district, told this correspondent that a majority of the children in the village had suffered from smallpox a few years back. "My two brothers, Shams and Akhtar, have been afflicted by smallpox and I have appealed to the officials concerned, but they did not bother either to visit the area or take steps for controlling it," said Mukhtaj Ahmad of Naro Banda.

Yeah, duh, and this smallpox incident "a few years back" involving a MAJORITY of the children would have made headlines also.

That's all they have been talking about in regard to the shortage of syrum(sp); the fact that the disease had been TOTALLY IRADICATED a long time ago.

THIS is outrageous and scary. Fortunate timing that we finally have Homeland Security well in place and ready perhaps to send a HAZMAT TIPS information sheet to the citizens, like they issue to the military, for their safety.

I, clearly, was referring to the weaponized Anthrax that was supposed to be secured. The stuff that they are now doing Lie Detector tests on a thousand Fort Deitrick personal to find out how it could have become unsecured. By that argument, neither is Smallpox secured or securable.

I just cannot imagine those Pali's have close contact with monkeys but camels are another story. Did you people hear the one about the French Foreign Legion Captain and his camel .... You need a stool for that joke. Heheeehehee.

I seem to remember the first case of Anthrax here in this country the health officials and media tried to pass it off as the editors' trip into the woods.

True, and I don't want to get off a tangent here, but anthrax is present in the US and we have had very rare cases where people contracted the disease. The authorities were trying to make the point that one case did not prove a terrorist attack.

Turns out they were wrong.

I suspect here that the Pakistanis don't call this disease by the same word we do. Otherwise this story would be talking about whole villages wiped out, or at least 50% mortality rate among all ages.

The latest Science has an interesting article suggesting that a smallpox attack would be less catastrophic and more easily contained that we might imagine.

Personally, I think the threat of a smallpox attack is over-rated, for a variety of reasons. We need to prepare for it, no question, but I suspect that the word "smallpox" is being used like "nerve gas" or "dirty nukes" as a codeword for anthrax. Keeps people on their toes, but makes the threat nice and hypothetical so people don't connect the dots. Wouldn't be good for morale if people grasp clearly that we are in a standoff with the Iraqi strongman.

Chickenpox? Monkeypox? False reports may turn out to be a major problem in the event of another biowarfare attack. (Remember all the "hoax" anthrax letters? Disinformation and misinformation can be part of an enemy's strategy.)

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